


A Stranger in the Future

by SerphenySlayer



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Armin Arlert (mentioned) - Freeform, Basically people from her past life mentioned, Future Fic, Gen, I know it says Armin/Annie but it's to reference their past together, If Annie woke, Sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-05-14 19:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14775795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerphenySlayer/pseuds/SerphenySlayer
Summary: Annie had meant to stay in her crystal for some time until it was safe to come out.To her shock, she found she was five hundred years too late.i.e Annie wakes up in a lab with amnesia, not remembering...yet.





	1. The Crystal Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> I'm happy for finishing my Aruani fanfic "Why is it Always Me" and have decided to write something a little...different. This idea came to me AGES back when it was found Annie locked herself into the crystal. There have been many theories surrounding how she'll get out, and one of my more sadder theories, comes from this idea that she'll wake up waay in the future. I'd originally intended for her to wake and have recollection of her past life, but decided that it'd be more fun if she discovers it on her own after amnesia.  
> Hope you enjoy!

The lemon haired girl can't remember anything. Not even her name, at least.

Her awakening is not something she remembers, not even the flash of some kind of light or destruction of the crystal. She isn't even awake when it shatters anyway. Her eyes are still closed, and it feels like they've been like that for a while. Unconscious, she's deaf to astounded scientists yelling hasty orders to get the strange girl to a room. She doesn't wake even when they're half-carrying, half- dragging her through the immaculate hallways of the facility with careful hands. Like they're worried she'll disintegrate if jostled the wrong way.

She is placed on a single cot in a window-less white room where those same hands now strip her of her clothing. They are quick, yet methodical while doing so, considerate with the fact that her body must be extremely weak after crystal stasis. Her jacket is pulled gently over her head, her pants removed, maneuver gear (what's left of it) unbuckled, and her boots, slipped out. 

And lastly, any personal possessions- her ring.

They give her new clothing; a crisp, long white dress shirt reserved for hospital patients, matched with undergarments. They hook her to an IV, and she now has tubes and wires decorating her body to see her progress; One for her blood, another for nerves, and another to measure her heart beat. In short, she is given the same treatment a coma patient would receive.

It is about a week of this before they see a muscle twitch in her body.

 

 ***

"So the patient is awake."

Dr. Hunter, a reputable man in his early thirties with brown hair and side burns, is currently in discussion with a fellow colleague in the privacy of his office. His colleague is a woman with considerable standing in his division. She has short, stark platinum blonde hair nearly white in color, despite being no older than thirty. Everything about her looks pastel; pale pink lips, pale eyebrows, and a pale visage. Her piercing light blue eyes are intense, like they've always been watchful even from a young age, giving off the overall impression of a serious woman not to be trifled with.

Dr. Hunter winces, " _Awake_  is quite a stretch, Lilia. The girl is still completely out of it, and I don't know for how long. She _still_ can't open her eyes."

"That's true," replies the woman, Lilia. "I hope it won't be too long before she's able to use them. But rest assured, the nurse in charge said her vitals look fine and she's breathing normally. She's even showing signs of her eyes moving, and believe me, that's good. It'd be a shame if she had blepharospasm*."

Dr. Hunter sank into his chair, tossing aside advertisements from his mailbox to open his file cabinet. "I _really_ can't believe it shattered just like that." he confessed. "I knew the lesions were developing more and more, but _still_...to have them rupture like that, and at such an unexpected time...!" 

"We're lucky we were just leaving the site when it happened. I have to remember to mention a pay rise for the janitor to the boss."

There is a silence in the room as he shuffles and rifles through his cabinet, which contains papers sticking out in all directions. He is not exactly a tidy person; there are papers, both important and unimportant and have been accumulated over the years of his research. Customs, attire, military, government...all of it concerning the wall dwellers who'd lived hundreds of years prior. He tries to be as quickly about it as possible while Lilia is in the room. He hates the idea of her disapproving face looking down at his mess, so he shifts around, trying to block it from view.

But she isn't looking at him at all. Instead, her eyes are fixed on a model of a nineteenth century hand gun perched on a wooden stand in the far corner of his desk. It is a strange thing to have on display even for a desk as disorganized as his, and she wonders how she hadn't seen it before. Curious, she reaches out to take it.

Upon closer inspection, she finds it diminutive in size. It has a short body, the closest thing it resembles, is a pepper-box* with its hook lever and trigger intact. It is unusual, even among other vintage hand guns. Its muzzle is far too wide to have accommodated any bullets and there is the lack of back strap or grip panel which would be in most pistols. 

"Didn't know you kept something like this here." she remarks, turning it over carefully and bringing it up to eye level. Though she is limited with firearms, she gathers that through the size of the muzzle and body, its use must not have been for aiming fire.

He looks up briefly to see her immersed with the gun, glad that her attention is elsewhere instead of his mess. "It's a _signal_   _flare gun_. It was used by the city dwellers to alert others miles away when titans were near. Their military used them while riding horseback through the plains."

"I've only ever heard something like this, but I haven't actually _seen_ it with my own eyes. Does it work?"

"Dunno. A friend of mine in the archaeology field long ago uncovered that from under the soil. He said it's crazy the amount of stuff they find out there. Ammo shells, dislocated gear, horse shoe remains...no titans though."

"Obviously." she agreed, "Given their nature in evaporating."

"Well, anyway, after he got back from the trip, he gave that to me as a sort of gift, saying " _Derreck, you wouldn't imagine how many of those blasted things we've found. It's enough to fill up a whole goddamn museum!"_   He's rambling now, half on the subject of the fascination with the past, and half with the task of finding the correct papers. "Those flare guns turn up occasionally in one of the archaeological digs, but not nearly as enough as the _"3DMG"_  . I used to have the three pre-loaded barrels with me on the desk with that gun. You know...  _green=safe route; red=titan; black=abberant..._ but it was getting in the way so I left them at my house."

There is a pause as he finally spots the folder hidden in between a thick stack of papers all detailing their military agenda. He retrieves the thin folder from its confines at the same time Lilia replaces the gun on its stand. "So where does she fit into all of this?"

By  _"she"_ he knew she meant the strange girl in the crystal. Wordlessly, he fishes out two stapled papers from the manila folder to pass it over before sitting down as well. She takes it and her eyes scan the page as she reads:

_The subject in question, is a small girl about sixteen years of age with blonde hair tied back. She is wearing a white hoodie underneath the standard military garment worn from of that time period, suitable for the wall dwellers. She is immobile while inside the crystalline structure which, aside from a few cracks, doesn't appear to be breakable. The crystal structure is very hard, and upon further examination, was found to bear nearly the same skin properties as that of the hardened skin of titan shifter, Eren Jaeger found in woodland caverns in the Wall Rose domain.  Using all manner of hard weapons (i.e jackhammer, knife, bullets, and even bombs and grenades) for extracting parts of Eren Jaeger's titan skin have proven unsuccessful. However, scientists are still on the subject of researching more about its placement and properties even when other attempts have been futile._

The rest of the paper shows scientific data and records of examination which are dated five years back, but she doesn't deign to worry about that. Instead, all she can do, is look at him genuinely surprised. "So the crystal properties are the same as that of Eren- as in, _the_ Eren Jaeger? But then..."

"That's not even the most of it all." replied Dr. Hunter. "You asked before, why I called you here to talk, and my answer comes from that second sheet of paper. You see, it's not the crystal _itself_ that is the problem or the fact that there's someone in it. The conflict...lies on who the girl actually  _is."_

Lilia looks again at the paper, flipping the page. This paragraph is considerably larger than the first page, but unlike the statistics and observations she's usually seen on a regular one, this one is entirely on the girl herself. Her backstory. It takes several minutes for her to finish, and when she does, she sees her expression mirrored on her colleague's grave face. 

"Her name is Annie. _Annie Leonhart."_ he emphasizes.

She doesn't bother to ask if she's  _that_ Annie who's been rumored among scientists as being the one who'd once wrecked a portion of the Stohess district in the year 850, around five hundred years ago. She was someone who hadn't been born inside the walls, having come somewhere else for the sole purpose to spy on the wall inhabitants.

And now, it's a strange thing, that the very thing that their ancestors had fought against, deemed as a monster, born from somewhere else entirely, is laying in a cot somewhere upstairs. 

Lilia closes her eyes, then opens them again. "So...what you mean to tell me, Dr. Hunter, is this: an alleged murderer who might possibly  _still_ be a titan shifter after all this time, and which is said to be _highly_ intelligent...is sleeping,  _unsupervised,_ as we speak?"

"I know what you're thinking, but it's not as bad as you think." He says, reading the paper again. "I managed to contact Dr. Arvell, and he filled me in on the rest. He told me he won't be able to return for a few weeks because of other research, but he's  _dying_ see her. He's accompanying his young son Elias on one of his projects."

"Good for him. But that still doesn't answer the question why she's left unattended."

There is a pause in which Dr. Hunter is looking down at the desk, and she notices he's not looking at the paper, but rather the hand gun she had picked up before. A relic from the past. The hazel eyes on his young face suddenly seem troubled. Like he's contemplating what to say.

He doesn't look up addressing the artifact instead. "That's because...and Dr. Arvell told me- we won't be interrogating her about her past."

She nearly does a double take on this unexpected piece of news. " _What?"_

"What I meant was...when she wakes up, we wont tell her who she is, or what time period she's from. _Least of all_ , the fact that she's a titan shifter."

She looks scandalized now. _"What?!"_

"Look, Lilia, it wasn't my idea, but Dr. Arvell's! The lab- _our lab-_ did brain scans and experiments on her yesterday and came to realize that five hundred years in a dormant state has rendered her to cognitive brain disorder but which wouldn't interfere with her other normal body functions. In short- she has something like amnesia. Cognitive Impairment, according to them."

"So what you're saying is, we'll have to feed her some cock-and-bull made up story and never mention the fact that she's a five-hundred year old ancestor brought back to the living? Derreck, do you have any idea what you're saying? For  _years,_ no... _centuries_ , the crystal hasn't shown any indication of breaking in the past, and now you're going to keep the truth from everyone by keeping her _ignorant_? This girl could be the  _key_ to understanding our past, to understanding our prejudices-"

"You think I'd rather keep all of this from going public? Like you, I want more than anything to know more about her! But, we have to wait until Dr. Arvell gets back from his trip. In the mean time, he's told us to keep all things from the public away from her. This means she's going to have to stay here in one of the rooms."

Lilia didn't like this one bit. The prospect of keeping all this information was just pure and utter injustice. Just seventy hours ago she'd been working on something else, oblivious that the girl hundreds of years old would be putting them on the brink of what they were sure, the biggest most inconceivable occurrence in the field of archaeology and genetics.

She got up to leave, realizing break time was over after all. "Fine, we'll agree to make _no mention_ of her past while she's here. That good enough?" 

"We're also not allowed to give her or show her  _any_ of the possessions she had in her previous life." He concludes with a shake of his head. "We can't give her back what she was wearing before- or even jewelry," he added, thinking of the ring she had.

" _So you're just going to burn her belongings_?" she asked, shocked.

"The biopsy department's examining it for other DNA. We'll give her new clothes and a new identity, though there is _one_ thing Dr. Arvell is allowing us for her to keep, and that is, her _name._ Other than that, she'll be like just an ordinary girl who's suffered from a severe case of amnesia.

"And what if she wakes?"

"If she wakes, we are to tell her a fake story: Her parents died when they were young, and she'd been staying at the Silistine orphanage since birth. We are keeping her here because she'd been in a car accident and now has a rare disease which requires her to stay indoors.  _That_ is our story- and hers. It was Dr. Arvell who came up with this."

Lilia sighs, looking out the hallway where a picture of a mountainous range is framed on the wall. When she looks back at him, it is resigned but with a hint of worry. "Derreck, tell me...what's going to come  _if_ she happens to remember?"

He couldn't give an answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* _blepharospasm_ \- condition in which there is involuntary tight closure of the eyes.

* _Pepper-box_ \- an old multi-shot firearm dating to its uses from between 1790-1850s.

 


	2. Welcome to Rose Facility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4th of July! To celebrate albeit a little late, I have presented a new chapter!

As the girl in the cot finally becomes awake, it is not sunlight, the beeping monitors, nor the hand that is slowly coaxing her up, but the excruciating pain in her head she becomes aware of. The sides of her temples feel pressed together, adding to the aching in her skull, and if it weren't for the mere fact that her vocal cords were too weak, she would have gladly let out her voice to express her pain. One of her muscles jolt involuntarily, and she realizes through her half-conscious state that her arms feel weak as well. She can barely move them, much less lift them, and her legs feel like jelly, like they've never been used for walking before.

But at long last after what seems to be hours, there is at one thing aside from breathing that she's managed to gain control of. Her sight.

There is no bright light in the room, not even any windows, but she squints anyway and opens her eyes for the first time to the ceiling directly above her cot.

All she sees is white.

But her ears are functioning properly now, and she can hear voices- hurried, rushed voices, excited voices, and also ones that are a bit fearful. She wonders who they are as they are strangers to her. She racks her brains trying to remember if these voices mean anything to her. She can understand through her grogginess that they are adults speaking English, but her brain refuses to let her make sense of what they're saying. It's strange, because how can she realize their language but not understand what they're saying? Everything about this is strange- waking up in this place with a white ceiling, feeling sick to her stomach but at the same time, empty, and hearing voices she can't seem to gather who they're from. There is a sensation in her that feels out of place, like she isn't supposed to be here, or that she doesn't feel right about this situation. Her sense of vulnerability is increasing with each passing moment, and she is panicking now, not knowing _why_ , not knowing _how_ , or even knowing the  _what_ part of her situation. 

She opens her mouth as this is the only thing she can make sense of, or to express her fear- and gives several long crying screams.

The hands around her are trying to coax her back to the bed now, and one of them is trying to reach for a sedative, but it proves futile as she has now blacked out. 

***

 

 

 

It takes several days for her to recuperate, but her awakening is more graceful. She is fed things through a tube, and although she is nearly out of it, she does catch sight of nurses through her peripheral. Perhaps it's because she is able to open her eyes without much stress, or her limbs feel much more cooperative, or it is probably for the main fact that she has a content stomach from the strange food they've been feeding her. When her voice starts working and her mind is much clearer than it is before, she tries to talk to one of the nurses, but she gathers that through her slurred speech they probably think she's hallucinating or under whatever drugs they've given her.

But on the second week when she opens her eyes from sleeping, she finds a visitor she'd never met before. A young woman.

"How do you feel?" she asks, sitting in a chair across from her.

She is slender in built, maybe around her mid-thirties and dressed in some white coat. The woman's light blue eyes, almost the palest blue in color look cool and calculating, like they're watching her every move, like every muscle twitch in her body would be read somehow without her knowledge. Her gaze looks electrifying, almost suffocating the longer she stares at them, and she doesn't quite like the way they are looking at her in concern, like she is some kind of strange animal that was found somewhere else, cause that's exactly what it probably looks like. 

The woman makes a move as if to help her sit up, but Annie shakes her head and hastens to do it instead, surprised at her own boldness. Why had she refused help on reflex? 

"I-I'm okay." she says lamely. Not because she hasn't spoken in a while and her voice is cracking, but because she's not quite sure if she really  _is_ okay. This whole situation is bizarre; she can't remember being familiar with this room before despite having awoken in it. Whenever she tries to rack her brain for an explanation, she comes up empty-handed.

"Is your head still hurting? What about your throat and stomach?" she adds.

"My...my head I think aches a little," she says slowly. "My stomach doesn't feel as empty."

The woman nods once as if satisfied. "My name is Lilia Bryzenska," she adds, motioning to a blue card hanging low by a chain necklace. The words look bold to her, the blue text clearly visible against the white card. 

 **LILIA BRYZENSKA** __

_**Head Coordinator in Genetics Systems Department** _

_**Sector C** _

"You may call me Doctor Lilia for short, or just _Lilia_ , if you prefer." the woman adds. "I, as well as someone will be your main providers. If there is anything you-"

 

Where am I?" she interrupts. She doesn't care if she comes across as rude or abrupt. None of this adds up and she is a little scared to say the least. The longer she's in this room, the more she is confused. "What am I doing here Tell me- who  _am_ I? I...I..." her brains rack around trying to remember her name. Her stomach gives an unpleasant jolt and she feels cold as if she had lost something of value. Her name-what is her name? The cold threatens to encompass her again, and the sensation feels eerily familiar in some way, like she'd been cold before. What is her name? She felt like it started with a letter somewhere around the beginning of the alphabet. Was it an A or a B...?

". Your name is Annie. Annie Collins." states Dr. Lilia. She doesn't appear to be at all surprised at the fact that she'd forgotten her name. Her eyes are still watchful though.

 _Annie,_ She thinks. The name seems to suit her, and there is something about it that makes her believe it holds importance. 

"Tell me Annie, is there anything else you remember?" asks Dr. Lilia, inching forward a little. The way she is staring at her eyes, it's as if she's trying to look for something. "Is there anything you remember about this room at all, or about what happened before?" 

"Remember about what- what happened before what?" she asks, clearly more puzzled. What was this woman asking her? Was she supposed to remember anything at all prior to waking up? She thinks for a moment, contemplating whether to lie, but decides it might be wise if the woman asks more questions. She shakes her head.

And then, the woman gives out a sigh. The change is almost immediate as those blue eyes narrow less and are replaced with calmer ones. It's a bit strange, but the sigh she exhales seem more relieved than fatigue. Had she been nervous this whole time?

Dr. Lilia looks much more composed now, and her voice does not hint as much caution as before when she speaks. "Annie, I understand that all of this is quite difficult for you to understand, but believe me, we'll be doing everything we can to make you feel safe. You may feel disoriented after waking up here, but I assure you, there's nothing wrong with it. Do you know what Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is?" 

She's puzzled. "What? No I don't, what is an Alice Wonderland Syndrome ?"

Lilia reaches behind her chair to uncover a medium sized folder from under her seat. When she looks up, her eyes are more open, more relieved than anything, but still guarded. "I want you to read this, Annie. This details all what happened to you before you woke and what you did before. It seems you have a lot of catching up to do."

 

 

 

It is all quite funny, how a group of strangers seem to know more about her than she knows herself.

She is Annie Collins, a 17-year old girl who had been involved in a car crash two years ago from a drunk driver. The after-effects:  _Alice in Wonderland Syndrome_ Dr. Lilia called, gave her a loss of perception along with amnesia, since she's unable to find a clue as to what happened before the crash. Her parents, she has no recollection whatsoever, having lost them at such a young age. And although she believes it for the most part since she doesn't feel any grievances which might indicate her remembrance or attachment to them. But despite all that, she feels like she had maybe been close to one of her parents before. Maybe something like a father. She might have even had looked just like them, but she atones that to the sickness she apparently is suffering from, whose symptoms also include Deja-vu.

Dr. Hunter, a man also in his thirties with brown bristly hair and determined hazel eyes is the first person she is acquainted with after Dr. Lilia. There is something...familiar...yet distant about him that she can't quite put her finger on. His features are nicely arranged, and she can tell with the smirk of his mouth when he's kidding around or when he's serious by its straightness. His attitude is direct, casual, and pleasant, and he has a way with words that she finds familiar as well. 

The immaculate white hallways of the facility are a bit overwhelming to her eyes for the first few days. Everywhere she looks, is nearly the same and she thinks that if it wasn't for Dr Lilia's help, getting lost would have been an outcome. There are no windows at all in the facility, which unsettle her a bit. She points this out, and Dr. Lilia responds with the explanation that it is necessary for the safety of the instruments used in the lab and it would prevent any biological hazard and it's for the best anyway since sunlight would be detrimental to her health. She moves past the double exit doors leading to the third floor beneath the facility and it is the brisk tone and finality in her sentence as she explains this which keep her from inquiring any more.  

She is shown briefly through the hallways where they look the same as the two floors above them. There is no cafeteria, weight lifting room, nor even a library in sight but finds out later that it is in another floor. The place looks completely deserted. She inquires if perhaps she and Dr. Hunter are the only two people in the building.

"Of course not," replies Dr. Lilia matter-of-factly. "They all have different schedules, so you probably never see them. Besides, most of them are doing work abroad."

"What kind of work?" she asks curiously.

"Molecular Genetics." she replies shortly. "And of course, those that are studying pathological effects on the brains of patients such as yourself."

Annie deigns to remain silent so Lilia can show her around some more, but she is bursting with questions. What did she mean pathological effects? What does the study of molecular genetics actually _do_? When had she gotten this disease exactly? Did she get it from someone, from the car accident, or was always with her to begin with? 

All it is, are rooms and some classrooms, filled with heavy and strange looking instruments. She quickly becomes acquainted with what a computer is, that those things on the table are really used to determine the genetic markers of a person, and many other things she does not know. She doesn't show much interest in them, only wondering why such a thing is used, and she is just following Lilia back through the main elevator when she notices that they haven't passed through a pair of double doors at the end of that dead-end hallway. The top part is glass but from her vantage point, she can't see what lies beyond but can gather that it leads somewhere a good distance away from where everything is. There is a darkness that lays around its entrance which hint that it would lead someplace where light can't be found.

"What about that door over there?" she points.

Dr. Lilia doesn't even turn back to look. "Thatdoor is the basement ground floor. You won't be able to get through it anyway since it requires key card access. There are only three people in this facility with access. Doctors Hunter, Arvell, and I. Dr. Arvell has his office down there which hold many important things."

"Doctor Arvell?"

"Yes. He is the head of Rose Corporation- this whole facility. He inherited the position from his father and his father before him. As you can see, this facility was founded long ago. He isn't here at the moment since he is at a business trip of sorts with his son. In fact, he doesn't really come down here that much since he is always attending conferences and meetings from far away. You are to keep out of that area."

"I see." was all she could say. She chanced one more look behind her at the dead end hallway before following Lilia. Such was her attention turned to look back at it one last time, she failed to notice the brief look of guilt wash over her face hidden in shadow.

 

 

 

For a few months it takes for her to be well-acquainted with the whole building and her two acquaintances ( _or most of it at least_ ), Annie finds the gym a lot more appealing to her than the library. Even much more than the game room, she reckons. The facility is already so large, it accommodates a decent sized pool for doing laps in and a weight room. There are a plethora of strange equipment in there, and after asking Dr. Hunter discreetly what they were and how to use them, she is secretly elated when he gives a wholehearted colorful discussion on each instrument and how to use them.

"And  _this_ right there is the dip bar," he says, demonstrating its use. You grab on either side of the U-shaped bars to hoist yourself up, which is to train your upper body strength. But  _this_ one's my favorite" he says, nodding his head over to a bar with two rings held by a cord. "This is a Suspension Trainer. Grab each of the rings and lift your entire body up, rocking into a forward motion. Out of all the things in here, _this_ particular one is the only one which I haven't mastered. You're supposed to balance yourself, holding on each handle and lift off the ground, so many people end up falling forward a lot, not used to it. Want to try?"

She steps up, thankful for the plain white clothing provided to her by Dr. Lilia which doesn't restrict her movements.

She does the exercises, finding out she has a surprising amount of upper body strength, but is not quite adept at lifting off the ground. She tries repeating the pattern of a slow up-down-up rising motion and although her movements are consistent, she can't quite master it.

"It takes some time getting used to it, but it seems you're quite good for someone at this even recovering from your coma. " There is something in his tone of voice that sounds strange when he says it, but she probably atones that to his surprise at her being good at it despite her illness (whatever they said). It is hard though, so it takes her several tries before she stops, catching her breath. He was right, this was the hardest one to do and she feels a bit disgruntled at this. 

"You've got great balance," he remarks, "it's a good thing to exercise after recovering from your long sleep. Your body will be especially weak during this time, so it's better to just be consistent with it." He smiles, showing white teeth.

Though not showing it, she too, feels like smiling.

 

Dr. Hunter would be lying if he said he didn't find the girl's company to be pleasant. She does not smile but there is a calmness in her eyes that are starkly different than the eyes he would have imagined belonging to a titan shifter. Those eyes have a sharpness similar to Lilia's, except there is no sternness behind them, and he wonders if it's because they've been stifled for those five hundred years she'd been trapped. He is a little perturbed by it because her eyes lack that dead-panned look she'd been so famed for in the stories.

Annie, it turns out, is a relatively quiet girl, but her blue-grey eyes, the color of the sky mixed with stormy clouds, hold some untapped determination in her gaze that leads others to believe she is girl with more secrets than words. She is quick to learn things he teaches her. From the equipment in the gym to the many carefully selected books in the library detailing medicinal properties, to flora, to fauna, and the human body. Occasionally she will accompany him into one of the empty classrooms while he gets work done on the computer and sit in the far corner, head in a book reading silently. He likes to think it's because she finds his company likable. After all, even when she's someone with little words, she's not someone without emotions. 

Before he knows it, he and Lilia have begun to look after her much like a child.

He is no fool however; he is always careful in her presence. The one thing he had made clear from the very beginning is that she wouldn't be allowed in his office. The papers there are far too valuable, but even more than that, it's the contents themselves he fears her seeing. 

If she were to see that he was a person researching the past civilization- the _very_ past that she was sent to destroy as a titan, he wonders if her memory would return. Was she really that same person from five hundred years ago? The girl with a heart made of ice all the stories had made her out to be? The girl sitting only a few feet away seemed far from that. He wonders how the real Annie would act in front of him if she still retained her memories.

 

 

Although she cannot remember anything of her past life, there are moments where, for no apparent reason, she'll start to think she has done things before.

She is at the gym in front of the punching bag when all of a sudden, her body just...moves by itself. One step...two steps...right hook...jab.

It's as if she doing a series of martial arts moves that had been ingrained in her since the time she was born. She takes a swing at the target, and there is something satisfying hearing the smacking sound of the leather pouch as it hits her fist that makes her repeat the move. She's now envisioning a target to practice against- she doesn't give the target someone she knows, but she imagines the person to be a young man, body lit with muscles and which is trying to take her down.

Sidestep...twist...punch... He's dodging her punches, stepping forward...

And then, in that split second she imagines that faceless target taking a swing at her, several things happen at once in her brain.

One is the the action her body immediately decides to take on its own; stepping sideways to lock her arms under her enemy's armpit to send them crashing to ground.

The other, is that while she's doing that, she no longer sees a faceless stranger, but the face of some strange monster i her mind's vision. A monster with a humanoid face with untidy brown strands curtaining its face...and those eyes. Startling fierce green eyes.

She flinches, springing to her feet and now staring in shock to where her target practice is lying on the floor innocently, unhinged from the hook from where she grabbed it. Panting a bit, all she does is stand there in half-shock, half-confusion. _What the hell...?_

 She almost laughs, but she can't, because even though she can't remember the face of that person...or creature she had just seen, all she can remember are those crazed determined green eyes glaring back at her. She doesn't know why, but those eyes make her shiver. Like she should be wary of them. 

She shakes her head. Maybe _I'm going crazy because of my sickness. I wonder if this is something I did before the car crash. I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask Dr. Lilia or Hunter about it._

 

 

 

She decides to ask Dr. Lilia. There is no reason, except maybe because she seemed like a person who'd be more straightforward.

"Have I ever done any physical activities like...maybe anything that requires boxing?" she asks one day.

Though Lilia never really looks up from her work on dissecting the brains of Drosophila flies under a microscope or whatever she's doing, there is a split moment where her profile tenses up and the grip on her sharpened probe tool tightens, but it is gone as fast as it came, and Annie wonders if she'd imagined it.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that. I was told you were healthy but didn't engage too much in sports." she replies slowly after a thought. 

She's skeptical. "But Dr. Lilia, how could I know the steps or those types of moves like that? It just doesn't make sense that I would just pick them up like that unless someone taught me. Did I ever attend any boxing practices or fighting of any kind? Why is it that I didn't know my name from the start or anything about myself except this?"  

This time, she notices Dr. Lilia looks a tiny bit different. It's as though a shadow had passed over her as her expression changes to one of concern. When she looks up again at her, it's confirmed; it was the same unease showed when she had inquired Dr. Hunter if she ever liked unicorns. She had been reading a book of fairy tales when she'd stumbled upon a picture of a pale unicorn and staring at it for a good few minutes. There had been something about the profile picture of the elegant neck and mane that looked like she'd seen before. When she'd inquired this, she noticed Dr. Hunter look a little pink replying that  _no, he didn't think so, but would she like to play a round of pinball with him after he was done with work?_  

"Maybe...maybe someone  _did_ teach you long ago thinking it was important" answered Dr. Lilia. 

Annie isn't satisfied with this smooth reply, and she is left with more questions than answers. 

The next day when she's at the library, eager to look for that same fairy tale book, she is puzzled to find it gone from the shelf.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted there to be a piece of gym equipment that would resemble the 3DMG maneuver so my mind landed on the Suspension Trainer. If you google that, you'll realize that using it would require decent balance in both lower and upper body- much like the 3DMG would. I included it because I wanted to make the connection that she was "naturally good" at it but only because she had done something like similar before. Evidently, Dr. Hunter noticed this.


	3. His Name is Elias

The funny thing is, she can't remember her dreams that well. They come in blurred forms, like a kaleidoscope of pictures set in whir that are too fast for her to register and it is only the small unimportant stuff she remembers. Log cabins set in a wide green landscape...dilapidated towns on the edge of collapse...the sound of what appears to be gunfire...all of it are mismatched and too undecipherable for her to comprehend. For the first month and a half, she had been incapable of dreaming, perhaps because of her sickness. Now? Her dreams are fleeting, over with as soon as she wakes, and it is only the concept she remembers and not the image. Like being familiar with a scent without really knowing its origin.

 

One morning after she finishes her breakfast delivered to her by one of the few helpers in the facility, (porridge with raspberries and a side dish of toast), she is puzzled when she gets a brisk knock at the door. After giving whoever is behind the door confirmation, it opens and reveals Dr.'s Hunter and Bryzenska, much to her surprise. The presence of both of them and at this early time of the day makes her pause eating.

"Good morning, Annie, everything alright so far?" asks Dr. Hunter, with a small smile at her and around the room. 

"Yes, thank you. What's wrong?" she asks out of politeness. There was a reason for them coming here, she knows it. Was it perhaps about her sickness or any information about her parents?

Dr. Bryzenska speaks instead. "Nothing of the sort Annie." Her tone carries its usual slow concise tone, but there is something about it that seems to hint concern. "We're here to tell you some important news regarding  _us._ "

"We have a project to complete and we won't be here for about a week and a half." Dr. Hunter clarifies for her. "Due to our scheduling and where we're going, we probably wont be able to see you for quite some time. We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning."

Her eyes shift to the pair of them momentarily to catch their expectant faces. This was not at all she was expecting them to say to her this morning. She feels a pocket of something uncomfortable well up in the pit of her stomach at the thought of them venturing who knows where, leaving her in the confines of a white building. She wants to say she doesn't want them to leave, wants them to cancel whatever plans. But she knows asking this is simply ludicrous. Instead, she gives a nod.

"Where are you going?" she asks, looking at Dr. Hunter as she says this. Perhaps its because out of all the people in the facility, she finds she gets along with him better. Nothing to say bad about Dr. Bryzenska, but Dr. Hunter had always had a reassuring presence and with humor easily decipherable for someone like her.

Dr. Hunter gives a little laugh. "Well, certainly somewhere not too far yet not too close either. We're called in to perform analyses on artifacts in excavation sites-"

-and some members from the facility will still be here overseeing your progress." finishes Dr. Bryzenska as though in a hurry. "Although they might not know about you as much, I've told them about your situation, so they'll make sure to keep watch over you while we're gone. We won't be gone for too long, Annie."   

Annie really doesn't quite know what to say at this point. She hates to say good-bye because its meaning carries some kind of weight like a stone. The sensation of it carries some kind of recognition with her, like she had felt it before. She swallows, unnerved at the way her throat seems a little constricted. 

"I understand." she says.

 

 

 

 

The next day, someone  _does_ indeed come to check on her every hour or so. It is never the same person, and she is willing to bet there is some kind of timetable in their workplace that details their turn to do it and their looks reveal their opinions about her. They are no more interested in her than she is with them, so she resigns herself to the spacious gym when she's feeling especially energetic, or the library to read. If she chooses to, she could be in her room for the entire day with no care, waiting for whoever it is to bring her her meals.

She cringes a bit at the lethargic life she has chosen to live, but it's not like it's hardly her fault. Sometimes she gets the impression that the "her" from before was not, could not have afforded to be this idyllic. Vaguely, she wonders what kind of person she was before the so-called "accident". Had she been a happy girl? Sociable or quiet? The her from right now is indifferent towards human interactions so she gets the feeling she wasn't very sociable or warm.

But now with the lack of Drs. Hunter and Bryzenska, she is feeling the first signs of loneliness that surprise even her.

She had been in her room reading for quite some time, having finished a book,  _Mummification: Preserving our History and Balance_ , and decided to venture to the library once more, walking the hallways like she'd always done. 

She is in the back part of the library when she hears a pair of voices belonging to women. Curious, she wonders if she could inch closer and hide behind one of the shelves near the entrance without being noticed. Stepping softly with half-curiosity, half-guilt she inches closer. If she were to get caught, it would be on the guise of her checking out one of the books.

"...of course not, I heard about it this afternoon."

"...but Dr. Arvell said this afternoon he'd had to stay longer..."

"...really? But I thought he'd had to leave."

"...nonsense, it must be his son again. They must have gotten into another argument causing him to take the train first thing after."

"...what do you mean?"

They were talking about someone and whoever that someone was, didn't seem to be in very high regard. She peeked through the cracks between the bookshelves to try to see. Through the crack, she sees two nurses, almost hunched while whispering and glancing every so often down the hallway as though worried for anybody coming.

The nurse that looks a little more portly than her friend continues. "Didn't you know? Or maybe you haven't been here long enough to see them. His son, Elias was here last year on Christmas, storming into the facility to demand for his father. Angry because he was doing work instead of celebrating with him."

"Why would he be working at that time?" asked the other friend.

"Well, some say it's 'cause the man is quite married to his job. 'You ask me, the man is quite deranged at times, being  _too_ busy. And now, since what happened to the crystal he-

"SHH!" her portly friend hissed, signaling a finger to her lips. "You  _know_  we can't discuss this. They made us swear not to!"

Even through the bookshelves, Annie could definitely taste the sheer panic in her voice.  _Crystal?_  

The portly woman looked anxious, glancing down the hallway and all around them. Annie ducked down, hoping against hope they hadn't heard or seen her. They must have been satisfied they were alone for the portly woman continued, though a little softer.

"At any rate, it seems like the Master won't be coming back for a time now. We  _can_ expect  _he_  will stop bye, though. We'll have to give orders that he can't interfere with the subject."

There was a silence, and though Annie didn't dare peak her head out of fear of being seen, she could sense with some relief and disappointment that they were walking away down the hallways. She stared ahead, mind blank and trying to decipher what the strange conversation meant.

 

 

 

 

She decided to do some laps around the pool after lunchtime, wanting to spend it floating on her back to stare up at the large domed and aqua patterned mosaic above her. The colorful tiles arranged to form a deep red rose whittled with thorns that twisted their way to the ends of the border. In all honesty, she really liked looking up at the design, sometimes do so for minutes at a time all while feeling the lukewarm water lapping at her ears. Had she always been a fan of the pool? She wondered if she had been a person who liked to go in the pool. There is a small feeling that makes her believe she could never have afforded such a thing.

Something unsettling that occurred to her was the lack of people using it. That went for the gym as well. It baffled her. Why was there a place  _this_ big if there was hardly anyone? She couldn't have been the only person who was sick here, could she?

It was dinnertime when an unremarkable person in a lab coat came to deliver her her dinner, placing it on the table and gone without a word. It irked her. The only company she had had were Dr. Lilia and Dr. Hunter. Aside from that, the lab coated people only said a quick greeting and a quick farewell before leaving. The only thing they seemed interested to know, is if she felt any different after taking the medication they provided her. She answered ' _yes_ ' at every time they inquired, and that alone seemed to comfort them. She would scoff to herself afterwards since it seemed obvious that they could care no less and were only doing it while under orders.

It was when nightfall came and she was once again staring up at the blank ceiling like she'd always done, when the words of the women came back to her. Crystal? What was this about a crystal? Who were they talking about who owned a crystal? Also, what had they meant by Dr. Arvell fighting with someone?

With all these questions she became restless, turning her pillow over and fidgeting against the stark cotton sheets trying to make sense of things. Thinking hard made her brain hurt and presently drifted off.

 

_She squinted against the light, aware that she was outside in some hot blistering sun, a stark difference to the cold-ventilated hallways of the facility. She was lying down on a soft mossy bed from the foot of a tree, looking up through the bright green leaves just barely blocking the rays of sun seeping through. Within her peripheral, she could see the fuzzy outline of violet flowers dancing with the wind._

_With the sound of the wind and chirp of birds around her, she could tell that was in some kind of forest. She lay there immobile in that position, closing her eyes against the sun but at the same time trying to spot the movement that was reaching her vision. It seemed to cloud over, reminding her very much like trying to stare up at the surface from the depths of a pool. The figure was getting closer, and through its outline, seemed to be a boy. With her vision becoming more blurred by the second, the only flashes she registered were the white of a smile and yellow strands of hair darker than hers..._

_And now she was in another place. It was still some kind of forest only the trees here were massive here, and she felt impossibly small against them. There was a sound of heavy footfalls coming near._

_Her heart was racing and she turned to move, fighting her way through the darkness as it got louder. The thing was coming closer and she panted, cold dread filling. She barely had the strength to inhale more oxygen._

_But as she sprinted towards the direction of some light, she felt a giant hand grasp her around the middle, bringing her back away from freedom, lifting her in the air. Her scream echoed through the branches, unheard of by anyone..._

 

 

Annie woke in a cold sweat, hands grasping the sheets around her like some lifeline.  With her eyes opened to the darkness, she searched blindly for the lamp switch. With a faint click, the corner of her bedside burst with dim light allowing to see the rest of her room and its contents thrown in shadows. Her breath was steadying, yet the thumping in her heart hadn't ceased its frantic rhythm which reminded her of the footsteps echoed in her dream. Like they belonged to some giant person. 

She lay there feeling feverish and confused.  and most of all, anxious, she lay there staring up at the ceiling. The shadows along the walls of her bedroom seemed to jump out; a grim reminder of the figures in her dream grabbing for her.

 

 

Shes not sure if she's grateful or annoyed that the door to her room hasn't been locked. Perhaps it never has been and most fortunately. She didn't like the idea that she'd be locked up like some caged animal. A part of her feels like she would never be able to fully enjoy being in the facility; not with its tunnel vision hallways that stretched far or its endless rooms that would make her lost. But at the same time, her unlocked door would have presented an opportunity to disobey orders. Even if her door had been open, not once would she have thought to disobey Doctor Lilia and Hunter by breaking curfew.

But they weren't here. Maybe even a hundred miles away from where she was at. There were no nurses active during this time (at least, she thought so), and given their opinion of her, she hardly thought a nighttime stroll would have made them bat an eyelash. Though there were windows where she was staying at, she knew nine o'clock would be about the time it would be dark.

The penumbra halls at night were darkened considerably and a bit quieter than usual. During the day, she would hear the sound of a door closing somewhere far off in the hallway, some people in white lab coats passing by, or the sound of one of those machines in use. Not this deathly quietness.

She found herself tiptoeing through the near darkness on bare feet, feeling the coolness from the slippery floor. She didn't know why she was being quiet all of a sudden like somebody would be lurking around a corner.

And when she presently came rounding into another hall, that's exactly what happened.

She stopped abruptly and just...froze.

Even through the darkened hall, she could see it- the figure of someone crouching against a door fifty feet away. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat, wondering if it was a doctor she wasn't aware of. But even through the darkness, she didn't see a white lab coat.  She thought  _janitor_ , but then person didn't look like they were cleaning. The mysterious person was clearly a guy on his knees fiddling around with the door handle, but the stretch of backside represented to her didn't look like they belonged to an adult. She could also see he had blond hair. 

Like a fight or flight instinct, she wondered if she should call out to the strange person. He still hadn't seen her, and she hesitated at the thought of making her presence known. Was he a threat? Should she just back out calmly and go back to her room as if nothing happened? He hadn't seen her.

But then she sneezed.

At the sound, the boy stopped abruptly, stiffened, and, before she could conceal herself, whipped his whole body around to face her.

His eyes were barely noticeable even in the darkness. But their bright twinkle gave away the notion of shock at having found himself caught red-handed, and had the situation been any different, the expression could have been quite funny. Annie's brain, (though she couldn't understand why), had made up in a split second that this person wouldn't harm her. His face looked young- as young as her, and he didn't look like someone who she should steer clear from.

Then he spoke, standing up while doing so. "umm...hi?"

Her feet led her toward him while he stood stock stilled. She was right, he didn't look completely adult. Maybe seventeen or eighteen. Around her own age. 

"Are...you going to tell him?" he asked hesitantly.

"Wha-?" She was lost.

He looked resigned, almost vindictive, as he stepped back to leave. "Look, you can just go to him and tell him I don't care and I still won't forgive him. He'll know I got in here again for-"

"Wait!" Annie held a hand out. She wasn't sure what was going on, but it seemed like he was mistaking the situation. "I-I think you got the whole thing mixed up! I don't work here and...and what did you mean about the whole 'I wont forgive him?'?"

Then the boy's expression changed from defensive to now just plain confusion. "Oh...I....thought you worked here."

For the moment, she said nothing, feeling her voice crack. "err...no. Do I look like it?" She felt lame, just meeting someone for the first time.

Now he looked puzzled, head cocked to the side. "What do you mean? The only people over here are scientists." He then turned fully to get a closer look at her, looking her up and down. "Actually, we look around the same age."

"Y...yeah." was all she could say.

"Should have known. You're too young to be working here anyway."

"I...I don't work here. I live here. What about  _you_?" she said, surprised at her boldness.

"You live  _here?"_ he looked incredulous.

"Yes."

There were a few moments where he just stared at her, not knowing how to respond. Was it that big a surprise that she lived here? Wasn't this a lab of sorts where people with sicknesses like her came?

"I thought I was the only one that was over here. Are you sick just like me?"

He still looked surprised. Wary even. "What do you mean sick? Why would I be sick?" He took a step towards her and that was when she noticed it.

His eyes were a bright blue. Such a beautiful shade they were, even in the dim light. Perhaps it was because of the illumination from the lamp or the closeness, but at the moment when the sliver of light etched a patch unto one of his eyes, the clear irises that shone back were ones she could associate with water. Like a lake-no- _ocean._

And yet there was something familiar about them. Like she'd seen them before.

"Did you say that you were sick or something?" he asked, eyebrows a bit furrowed as he looked her up and down. "If so, why would you be here in the lab instead of in a hospital?"

"Well, I...I don't know. But Lilia-I mean  _Dr._  Lilia and Dr. Hunter were taking care of me and said that I suffered from some disease and that I couldn't go outside. They're trying to find out more of my condition. Oh sorry, you wouldn't know them, Lilia is a woman who works at the-"

 " _Genetics Systems Department sector C,_  yeah I know. And Dr. Hunter works in the archaeological department." he finished.

Her eyes widened. "How'd you know that?"

He gave a little chuckle, "well, it's more the fact that I  _have_ to know." He looked at her closely, his eyes examining around her face as if he hadn't seen her correctly before. "What's your name?"

"It's Annie. Annie Collins." she answered.

He smiled. "Annie Collins" he reiterates. "Nice to meet you. My name's Elias."

_Elias...Elias...where had she heard that name before?_

And then she remembered:  _"His son, Elias was here last year on Christmas..."_

Wait...he was...

"Yep, so you have heard of me." stated Elias chuckling.

"You're the son of the Head doctor in the facility!" she stammered, astounded that she realized.

"Heh, we just met, and already you know me? Same here. It feels like I already know you. Besides, it was obvious from your face that you've heard of my name before. I guess you heard it from some gossip, am I right?"

She simply stared at him.  _He's sharp._

"Though I don't know why you're here in the lab, I can only guess it was because of my dad, right?" he said as though he knew the answer.

She nodded. "I've never spoken to him before, but I heard from Dr. Hunter and Lilia that he let me stay here. But he said that nobody was to know that I was here."

Elias looked serious. She could practically feel his blue eyes looking her over in confusion. "Why would my dad need you here?

"No idea." she said, staring at the ground. 

Just then, there was a sound off in the distance of a door opening. It sounded like a small rolling cart that squeaked from time to time. Its sound was echoed from far away.

"I-I shouldn't be here." she said, heart sped up as she half-turned to leave. I-I don't want to get caught up here at night."

Evidently, Elias seemed to be thinking the same. "Don't worry, its Wednesday. The janitor would only do sector B at this time."

"Sector B?" she said, mind going back to the map Lilia had given her. "But my room is in sector B, I have to go back now!" She turned to go, the opposite direction of the noise.

"Wait!" He grabbed her arm. She turned around, and she could see his face looked solemn. Like he still wanted to talk more with her. "Annie, will you meet me here tomorrow, same time?"

She looked into his eyes. His bright blue eyes which shown with determination and questions. She suddenly found herself wanting to know more about him. This strange kid who was the same age as her and which seemed to attract her in some strange way.

"Yes. I'll be here, Elias. Same time same place."

He gave a smile and released her hand before turning to leave as well. 

Besides his eyes, his smile was beautiful.


End file.
